The arrest of a travel blogger and YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra last week in Hisar on charges of spying for Pakistan has brought to light a new trick of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the spy agency of Pakistan. Malhotra, 34, operated a travel YouTube channel named "Travel with Joe," which had over 3.2 lakh subscribers, along with a substantial following on Instagram (13.4 lakh), Facebook, and Snapchat. She was in an intimate relationship with a Pakistani intelligence agent and had even travelled to Bali with him. She had maintained regular contact with Pakistani intelligence operatives and shared sensitive information with them using platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat.
An influencer spy ring?
The Haryana Police claim Malhotra wasn’t working alone. She was allegedly in touch with other social media influencers, some of whom may also have links to Pakistani intelligence operatives. “They were developing her as an asset,” said Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan. “She was in touch with other YouTube influencers, and they were also in touch with the PIOs. She used to go to Pakistan, like on sponsored trips... We are investigating, as we have leads that other people were also involved with her.”
The investigation has also reached Odisha, where a YouTuber from Puri has come under scrutiny. Malhotra had visited the coastal town in September 2024. However, the Puri YouTuber has said she was not aware of Malhotra's activities. The unnamed woman came under the scanner after it emerged that she had travelled to Kartarpur Corridor, a visa-free border crossing leading to Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib, shortly after Jyoti’s visit to Jagannath Temple in Puri on Sept 21 last year. Odisha police will soon begin a statewide scrutiny of local content creators, particularly those operating on YouTube.
Also Read | Jyoti Malhotra was also in contact with Pakistan handlers during Operation Sindoor, including blackouts
The ISI's new trick
In recent years, the ISI's standard trick to draft Indians as its spies has been the honey trap. A few years ago, the Anti-Terrorist Squad of UP police had zeroed in on 125 Facebook profiles of women who they suspected might be ISI plants to honey-trap Indian security personnel. All these accounts had at least one officer either from the Indian Army or the central paramilitary forces on their friends list.
On target were Indians working in defence forces or critical technologies. Former BrahMos scientist Nishant Agrawal, who was sentenced to life by a sessions court in Nagpur last year for leaking military secrets to Pakistan, was a prominent case of an ISI honeytrap. One 'Sejal' had set up a Facebook account from Pakistan to target Indians. For Agrawal, Sejal was a recruiter in UK's Hays Aviation. Agrawal's profile had mentioned that he was a senior systems engineer at Brahmos Aerospace. He was also Facebook friends with two other individuals, Neha Sharma and Pooja Ranjan, whose accounts too were active from Pakistan, as per the investigators.
In the days of the Cold War, seductive spies would lure targets in smoke-filled bars and nightclubs. In the times of the internet, easy accessibility and vast scope to hide real identity has made social media a perfect playground for spies.
Also Read | Alleged Pakistani spy from UP's Moradabad sent to 14-day judicial custody
Malhotra too was a social media target since she ran a highly visible YouTube account. However, in her case, the ISI seems to have played a new trick -- instead of luring Indian officials through honeytraps, it now seeks to trap social media influencers to build narratives to confuse the public. In a video, Malhotra had blamed lack of security for the Pahalgam attack. The police are probing Malhotra's links to other influencers. She could have been used by the ISI to recruit other influencers for narrative building in favour of Pakistan. It's easy for the ISI to spread its propaganda in India if it drafts influencers with wide reach.
Influencers with a large number of followers can also be effective recruiters of spies for the ISI. Instead of an ISI staff impersonating as 'Sejal' on social media to lure an Indian defence officer, it's far easier and faster for an Indian influencer to do that. Influencers can also have access to sensitive areas due to their popularity and the nature of their work which hardly raises suspicion. Malhotra's case could be a new and more dangerous trick the ISI is trying against India.
(With inputs from TOI)
An influencer spy ring?
The Haryana Police claim Malhotra wasn’t working alone. She was allegedly in touch with other social media influencers, some of whom may also have links to Pakistani intelligence operatives. “They were developing her as an asset,” said Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan. “She was in touch with other YouTube influencers, and they were also in touch with the PIOs. She used to go to Pakistan, like on sponsored trips... We are investigating, as we have leads that other people were also involved with her.”
The investigation has also reached Odisha, where a YouTuber from Puri has come under scrutiny. Malhotra had visited the coastal town in September 2024. However, the Puri YouTuber has said she was not aware of Malhotra's activities. The unnamed woman came under the scanner after it emerged that she had travelled to Kartarpur Corridor, a visa-free border crossing leading to Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib, shortly after Jyoti’s visit to Jagannath Temple in Puri on Sept 21 last year. Odisha police will soon begin a statewide scrutiny of local content creators, particularly those operating on YouTube.
Also Read | Jyoti Malhotra was also in contact with Pakistan handlers during Operation Sindoor, including blackouts
The ISI's new trick
In recent years, the ISI's standard trick to draft Indians as its spies has been the honey trap. A few years ago, the Anti-Terrorist Squad of UP police had zeroed in on 125 Facebook profiles of women who they suspected might be ISI plants to honey-trap Indian security personnel. All these accounts had at least one officer either from the Indian Army or the central paramilitary forces on their friends list.
On target were Indians working in defence forces or critical technologies. Former BrahMos scientist Nishant Agrawal, who was sentenced to life by a sessions court in Nagpur last year for leaking military secrets to Pakistan, was a prominent case of an ISI honeytrap. One 'Sejal' had set up a Facebook account from Pakistan to target Indians. For Agrawal, Sejal was a recruiter in UK's Hays Aviation. Agrawal's profile had mentioned that he was a senior systems engineer at Brahmos Aerospace. He was also Facebook friends with two other individuals, Neha Sharma and Pooja Ranjan, whose accounts too were active from Pakistan, as per the investigators.
In the days of the Cold War, seductive spies would lure targets in smoke-filled bars and nightclubs. In the times of the internet, easy accessibility and vast scope to hide real identity has made social media a perfect playground for spies.
Also Read | Alleged Pakistani spy from UP's Moradabad sent to 14-day judicial custody
Malhotra too was a social media target since she ran a highly visible YouTube account. However, in her case, the ISI seems to have played a new trick -- instead of luring Indian officials through honeytraps, it now seeks to trap social media influencers to build narratives to confuse the public. In a video, Malhotra had blamed lack of security for the Pahalgam attack. The police are probing Malhotra's links to other influencers. She could have been used by the ISI to recruit other influencers for narrative building in favour of Pakistan. It's easy for the ISI to spread its propaganda in India if it drafts influencers with wide reach.
Influencers with a large number of followers can also be effective recruiters of spies for the ISI. Instead of an ISI staff impersonating as 'Sejal' on social media to lure an Indian defence officer, it's far easier and faster for an Indian influencer to do that. Influencers can also have access to sensitive areas due to their popularity and the nature of their work which hardly raises suspicion. Malhotra's case could be a new and more dangerous trick the ISI is trying against India.
(With inputs from TOI)
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